His Betrayal Her Lies

by Angel de'Amor

  “Taylor, I’m so happy you came to visit your old pop.”

  Taylor walked around the desk and gave her father a hug. She always found comfort in his embrace.

  “To what do I owe this visit, sweetheart?”

  She sat down on his black leather couch. “I just needed to talk.”

  Mayor John Briggs got up from his chair and sat on the edge of his desk. “Okay, let’s talk.”

  Taylor took a deep breath. “Before I start, I need you to promise me that after I’m done, you won’t ask me any questions and you will only give me advice.”

  Her father creased his brow and looked worried. “Are you in any trouble?”

  Taylor shook her head. She knew his concern came from the fact that she was always the strong one out of all his kids. If she was here, it had to be serious.

  “Okay, I promise only to listen and give you advice.”

  Licking her dry lips, she laid her head back on the couch and stared at the ceiling. “I have a friend who is keeping a secret from her companion.” She hesitated, then went on. “Although she wants to tell him, she is holding back because she has good reason to believe that he is holding on to a secret that he should come clean with first. Of course all this is compromising their relationship.”

  She observed her father’s face to see how he seemed to be taking her news so far. He steepled his fingers under his chin and waited silently.

  Choosing her words carefully, she continued, “The catch 22 is that if this secret comes out, it could not only hurt the couple but also their families.” She fingered the strap of her bag and avoided eye contact with her father, just in case a tear happened to sneak down her cheek. “I want to know what you would do to save your friend’s relationship and family.”

  “I have one question.”

  “I said no questions, Dad.”

  He shifted his weight on the desk. “Just one, please, if you expect me to give an honest answer.”

  Taylor nodded for him to proceed.

  “Does your friend’s companion know about the secret?”

  “Yes.”

  John ran his hand down the side of his face. “It’s always better to keep no secrets from your companion. I say tell this friend,” his fingers drew quotation marks in the air, “to tell her companion that she knows about the secret. If your friend is lucky, her family will support them through the outcome. Trust and communication are the key factors in any relationship.”

  Taylor got up and hugged her father again. Determined not to cry in front of him, she gathered her purse and keys for a quick get-away. “Thanks, Dad. I’ll talk to you later.” She pulled away but her father caught her hand.

  “I’m glad you came to me, sweetie.” John’s pleading eyes could not hide how badly he wanted her to confide in him more.

  “Thanks,” she whispered. One final kiss and she was gone.

  * * *

  The plan was crystal clear now. Taylor knew what she had to do.

  Walking past her secretary, the older White lady stopped her before she entered her office. “Good morning, Mrs. Gallagher.” Taylor turned toward Mrs. Tab and nodded her head.

  “I don’t want to alarm you but you have a little surprise in your office.”

  Taylor didn’t really care. All she knew was she needed to be alone and whoever was in her office was about to feel her wrath.

  The unmistakable scent of roses filled Taylor’s nose as she neared her office. Inside, it looked like more than a hundred vases of yellow roses had been placed all over her office. They were on the windowsill, her desk, and lined up in rows on the floor. She was extremely annoyed as she made a path through the ones on the floor and sat in her chair.

  Mrs. Tab came in behind her. She was absolutely delighted. “Your husband must really love you,” she said picking up one of the roses and smelling it.

  Taylor just stared at the woman. She was not her normal self, and Mrs. Tab seemed to catch the hint. “Well, here is the card I managed to find in one of the vases.” Mrs. Tab gave it to Taylor and backed out the office door.

  A world of trouble is what Taylor had gotten from the last anonymous letter addressed to her. She almost had to sit on her hands to stop them from shaking. She couldn’t believe this psycho person was having this type of effect on her. She grew up on the west side of Chicago and she didn’t scare easily. She braced herself, opened the envelope, and read the card inside.

  “Hi, Taylor,

  You ran off the other night without giving me your last name. I had to go through great measures to find you. Please accept these roses as a fresh start to our friendship. Please give me a call. I’d like to take you out for dinner. I enclosed another business card.”

  Kalon Knight

  Taylor tossed the letter in the garbage can and buzzed her secretary.

  “Yes, Mrs. Gallagher?”

  “Can you please send up the janitorial staff to remove all these roses from my office?”

  “You want them to throw them out? All of them?”

  “Yes, I want them removed from my office.” Taylor’s tone matched her irritation.

  “Yes, Mrs. Gallagher. Right away.”

  “Oh, and by the way,” Taylor rattled off into the intercom, “if anyone sends anything else to my office by delivery, please return it to the sender. No matter what it is.”

  Mrs. Tab had worked for Taylor for a few months, and had never seen this side of her, rude and detached. She was always nice and sweet.

  “Okay, Mrs. Gallagher.” Taylor could hear her secretary phone building management and request that janitors be sent up.

  After the last vase of flowers was taken out of Taylor’s office, she called her brother. Tyler answered on the fourth ring. “Good morning, sis. Speak your business.”

  “What took you so long to answer the damn phone?”

  There was no sound, and Taylor pictured her brother holding the phone away from his ear and staring at it. He stood his ground. “Ahhh, come again.”

  “Yeah, you heard me. The phone rang more than three times. I know you’re not busy.”

  “Look, Taylor, I don’t know how that stick got in your ass, but you need to calm down. I do have a job. What do you want?”

  Taylor blew off his last remark. “I need the number to that friend you went to college with, the one who became a private investigator.”

  “Why?”

  She blew out an irritated breath. “Please, Ty, I just need it. No questions.”

  “This is against my better judgment but I guess I’ll give it to you.”

  A neon orange post-it was within Taylor’s reach, so she used it to take down the information. “Thanks, Ty, and I’ll call you later.”

  “Whoa, whoa.” Tyler stopped Taylor before she hung up. “Hey, sis, we used to tell each other everything. What’s going on?”

  “I’m sorry, Ty, but this situation I have to handle on my own. I promise though that if I ever need your help, I’ll let you know.” Tyler had always respected her privacy and she assumed this time would be no different.

  “Okay, sis. Love you.”

  Taylor half smiled. “Love you, too.”

  * * *

  Taylor paced the floor in her office, waiting for Ty’s private investigator friend to show up. She had met him at Ty’s college graduation at her parents’ home on Christmas Eve. She needed someone she could trust, someone who could be discreet.

  Downtown Chicago and Lake Michigan were in full view outside the picture window in her office. She sat at her desk and looked through the plate glass. She needed her best friend, Libby, but she had pissed her off. Pam seemed to be MIA lately. Everyone was busy with their own lives.

  Taylor was aimlessly rearranging papers on her desk when the phone buzzed.

  “Yes.”

  “There is a Mr. William Bolton here to see you.”

  Taylor stood from her desk. “Please send him in.”

  William came into the office with a puzzled look. He was a
tall, lanky, freckle-faced man. Tyler had once told Taylor he trusted William with his life. She hoped she could do the same.

  “Please take a seat, William.”

  He hesitated before folding his tall, frail body into the chair.

  “Would you like some water or coffee?”

  William scratched the back of his head. “Ahhh, no thank you.”

  Taylor walked over to the windowsill and checked out the ducks swimming in the lake while she spoke. “You’re probably are wondering why I called you here today.” She could hear William moving around in the leather chair.

  “Yeah, I guess I was wondering that.”

  Taylor kept her back to him. “I’m going to cut right to the chase. I want to hire you.”

  “I never thought in a million years you would require my help but okay, what do you need?”

  Taylor turned to face William. “I need you to follow my husband and get information about his daughter’s mother.” She knew he was probably caught off guard because he, like everyone else, thought that she and Ari were the perfect couple.

  An ink pen fell out of his hand and rolled a few inches across the floor. He leaned forward and stretched his rubbery arm out to get the pen. “I’m sorry, Taylor, but I don’t understand what you are talking about.”

  Taylor took a seat in front of him. “Let me explain. A few weeks before I got married, I received a letter in the mail from a lady claiming she had a daughter by my husband while we were in college. She didn’t leave a name and I didn’t tell Ari about the letter. The day we were married, I think I saw her at the reception. She was staring at me; she was wearing a black dress and a black veil covered her face. She left before I could approach her.

  “A year passed and I didn’t hear anything more from this lady. I started to think maybe it was a lie—until this weekend. That’s when I went to the cleaners and came out to find my car windows busted out. And then this morning when I stepped out of my house, my tires were slashed and the words bitch and hoe were keyed on my car.

  “I tried to connect the dots and everything seems to come back to this woman. I need you to find out everything about her from the day she was born. I need to know what I’m dealing with.”

  William had taken out his note pad while Taylor was talking and was writing. He lifted his head. “Is that everything?”

  “Yes, that’s all I know about her.”

  “Do you still have the letter?”

  Taylor reached into her bottom desk drawer and pulled out the letter. Just touching it almost brought a shiver. She handed it to him.

  “I have a few questions.” William sounded like he was in CSI mode. Taylor leaned back in her chair. “Okay.”

  William stood and walked over to the floor-to-ceiling window. “First, where does Ari work?”

  “He is a pilot for American West Airlines. He is gone at least three weeks out of a month. He also flies privately for celebrities like R. Kelly, Denzel Washington, and Beyoncé.”

  “Do you know where he and this woman met or the little girl’s name?”

  “Yes, everything is in the letter. She said Miami and the little girl’s name is Adrianne.”

  William stood in front of Taylor, rubbing the back of his neck. “I have one more question. Why did you choose me? I mean, I’m glad you did but I’ve only being doing this type of work for a couple of months.”

  Taylor lowered her eyelids to almost a slant and crossed her legs. “I chose you because my brother trusts you. I could have gone with any professional, someone with tons of experience. However, I need someone who knows my family and knows how much is at stake. My father could lose everything if this gets out. So I’m choosing loyalty over experience and I have confidence that you can get the job done.”

  William closed his note pad with a satisfied look. “If I have any questions, I’ll be in touch.” They shook hands and he left.

  Taylor sat back down with her arms folded and studied the ceiling. She prayed to God that this was all a lie and she would wake up from this ugly nightmare. She never thought her life would be this dysfunctional.

  There was a light tap at the door. She sat up straight. “Come in.”

  Libby came strolling into the office with a stack of papers in her hand. They hadn’t talked to each other since that day at the cleaners.

  “I had to stop by and give you these profit and loss statements to read over and I need you to review these financials.” She deposited the papers on Taylor’s desk and turned to leave.

  “Wait, Libby.”

  Libby stopped without turning around to face Taylor.

  “I’m sorry,” they both said in unison.

  Taylor ran over to hug her friend. “I’m so sorry, Libby, for the things I said that day. I never meant to hurt you.” They let go of their embrace and looked at each other.

  “I should have been there to listen to you but I was in my own little world,” Libby admitted.

  “No problem, girl.” Taylor led Libby to the sofa in her office. “I need to talk to you and Pam. So much has been going on in my life these past couple of days, I just need to tell someone before I explode.”

  Remorse was painted on Libby’s face. “Oh, Tay, I’ve been a horrible friend. I can tell by your facial expression that whatever you’re dealing with is not good.”

  Taylor half smiled at Libby’s confession. “Let’s all have dinner tonight at my favorite restaurant, Ohio Street. See if you can get in touch with Pam for me. I stopped by her office during lunch and her secretary said she wasn’t in. Do you know what’s going on with her?”

  Libby pinched the bridge of her nose. “I haven’t talked to Pam. I’ll let her know you want a girls’ night out.”

  “Great, we can meet around eight o’clock tonight,” Taylor said standing.

  Her friend followed her lead. “Let me get back to work, Tay. These auditors are working my nerves.”

  * * *

  Kalon turned on the lights in his loft. Three women had tried to get his number while he was working out at the gym in his complex; he just wasn’t interested. He had taken their numbers out of courtesy but had no intention on calling. One woman was on his mind—Taylor Gallagher.

  He took off his tank top and boxers and stepped into the bathroom for a long, hot shower. Water sprayed his uplifted face while he thought about the confirmation he received that the flowers had been delivered to Taylor. A second attempt to reach out to her had gotten him nowhere again. He couldn’t understand why Taylor wouldn’t go on a date with him. I know she is attracted to me. He could see it in her face when he met her. In his many years of seducing women, he knew when a woman wanted him. He was definitely sure that she was interested.

  After his shower, he sat on his Italian leather sofa with a towel wrapped around his waist and enjoyed a cold beer. He looked around his loft and felt a sense of accomplishment. Being a black young entrepreneur had been his dream ever since he was a little boy.

  Vintage Italian décor filled the space. Every painting and furniture piece was handmade and delivered from Italy.

  The phone rang. He set down his beer and picked up the cordless handset sitting on the corner table. He cleared his throat. “Hello”

  “Good evening, Mr. Knight. We have a Patricia White down here to see you. Should I send her up?”

  Patricia? Kalon ran through his mental Rolodex but couldn’t think of who she was. He had been with so many women it was hard to keep track of their names. “Ask her where I know her from.” He didn’t care if the doorman thought that was kind of odd.

  Muffled voices were all he could discern over the phone, then the doorman came back on the line. “Sir, she said she was with you the other night and she left you a message on your office phone this morning.”

  Oh, that Patricia. The redhead he met at the traffic light a couple days ago. He already got what he wanted—and it wasn’t that great. He decided he could use the company. “Yes, send her up,” he relayed to the doorman.

>   He jumped off the sofa and ran into his bedroom to put on his blue V-neck Sean John sweater and a pair of True Religion jeans that rode low on his hips. The black socks he grabbed out of his drawer would suffice. Stepping into his foyer, he opened the door to a smiling Patricia.

  “Hey there, stranger. I’ve being trying to get in touch with you. You got me stalking you.” She made a show of rocking her hips from side to side as she walked past him. She had on the tightest, black, knee-length dress ever made. Kalon could see everything, not that he hadn’t already seen it.

  “Oh, is that right?” He gave her a sly smile. She turned to face him and leaned in for a kiss.

  Kalon kissed her cheek and showed her to the sofa. “Please take a seat.”

  “I think we’re past sitting and talking. I know what I want and I came to collect.”

  Kalon’s face remained neutral as his inner voice said, in your dreams. Patricia got up and sat in his lap. She started to place small kisses down the center of his neck. His member started to do crazy jumps in his pants. He knew he had to get this woman out of his house fast. “Let’s go get something to eat,” Kalon stammered, breathing heavily.

  Patricia tried to get closer to Kalon.

  “I thought we could go to one of my favorite restaurants,” Kalon proposed.

  Patricia rubbed a hand down her dress to smooth out the winkles. With disappointment on her face, she took him up on his offer. “Okay, what restaurant is that?”

  Kalon took his Sean John jacket from the closet. “Ohio Street.”

  Chapter 9

  Libby, Pam, and Taylor were seated in a booth for four. At this upscale restaurant, the food was brought to your table and you were given a card that had “keep serving” on one side and “go away” on the other. Pam took a bite of her shrimp. “So, Tay, what’s been going on with you?”

  Taylor folded the napkin in her lap. “I should be asking you the same, Pam. I haven’t seen or heard from you in a couple of days.”

  “Girl, dealing with baby daddy drama. My son is a senior in high school, and his no-good daddy and I are still going round and round about the same things.” She sipped on her rum and coke.